Yes I would turn down 10 $50 signings as I know what my cost is to do those engagements. Many SS try to convince notaries on the low cos but make it up in volume. Every time a low ball is offered it impacts the rest of us trying earn a living. Not every market will have 10 signings in close proximity. My territory covers 2000 square miles in only three counties.
This also applies to those $70 signings just up the street. If the offer is insufficient to cover expenses and provide a profit Iāll turn it down.
I had no idea all this time I never adjusted tax to incorporate the notarization fee as tax deductible. Iām not sure if your telling me that my accounting and tax knowledge is correct Arickter? I worked very hard on my tax and accounting processing and now with what your saying it changes everything.
Notary fees are not ātax deductibleā - theyāre exempt from Self Employment tax. What she says is correct - just substitute āexemptā for ādeductibleā. I donāt know how youāve been doing your taxes - am assuming from your post youāve been paying SE tax on your entire fees (less deductions/credits)?
Yes the entire thing, Iām in California and a notarization fee is $15 individually I never realized this and it just changes everything. It would have been really neat too if it lowered taxable income too.
rmjnotaryservices, regrets for the overdue reply. Itās busy over here. Kindly re-read the bit of my comment where it says, āThe amount showing on the statement is NOT what we are actually permitted to BILL to Titleā for the Notarial services. The SS cannot pay you $150 if they are only BILLING $151 or howevermuch TO TITLE. The $400 that shows on the ALTA includes other fees. It is literally against the LAW for the Lender to go back to the signer after the Disclosures are, well, disclosed, and ask for more moneyā¦ for ANYTHING!! So they allow for unexpected contingencies, and return any excesses at the end. There is EXTRA in that fee in case Mr Signerās dates arenāt up to par, or Ms EO is having a bad day and suddenly wants LEGIBLE signatures only, so she orders a redraw, or someone dates a Note, or /whatever/. Believe it or not, Title actually limits how much WE can charge, too. If I walk in and say, āI have the BEST Notaries, and I charge $400 per closing for them!ā ā¦ none of us are working if the chick who walked in right before me or right after is offering the industry standard fees. Can you GET higher fees? If you live in some places, yes. If you have amazing, direct relationships, yes. If you have a great relationship with a SS, yes. Is it going to happen on every file, every day? Probably not. If you really want premium fees, choose an escrow office, make them your pet project, go direct. Better yet, open your own SS. Itās really fun over here!!
No worries on the reply time. I understand the prohibition of law to āgo backā and ask for more, and now I have a deeper understanding of whatās happening on the front end of SSās marketing. That was the part of the process I was ignorant of regarding what the industry standard is for SSsā fees. To that end, Iāve spoken with a couple of other SS owners and Iām seeing similar fees. Therefore, I will not complain going forward with the exception of the low ball offers below $75. Additionally, I will take your advice regarding my new āpet projectā in between SS orders. As for starting an SS, Iām no where near ready for such an endeavor. Iāll leave that to more seasoned professionals like yourself to navigate and just be grateful for your diligence in marketing to Title so I donāt have to.
I want to thank you for being so candid. Lisa has explained some as well. What stood out to me was the bold ā¦you return money back to the TC ?? What if you are paying $100 for a signing, but it has to be redoneā¦so you pay another $100 for the redo. Whereās your profit?
John, the fee you see on the CD or ALTA, that $400 or $550 or whatever it is, is NOT the amount the SS is permitted to bill. We can only bill part of that for your service. To your question, if we are allowed to bill $200, and pay $100 for the signing that has to be redone due to Notary error, the service pays another Notary $100 and there IS NO profit on that order. Title doesnāt pay that bill, I do. Itās not Titleās fault if my notary screws up, itās mine. The Title fee is for Titleās āoopsāsā ā¦ not yours. If they need to use their corrections and file another doc, that takes a fee. If they forgot to send a doc, that takes a Notary fee that they pay. It is mostly for their hard work in getting it all together in the first place. Coordinating all this is no small task.
I chose words poorly in that last bit, funds are not returned as much as balanced throughout the transaction. Iām sure youāve seen this as youāve worked with docs?? A borrower gets upset about this fee or that, so the lender credits him for it in a different spot. All of the funds are accounted for.
I guess Iāve become a bit jaded in the short time Iāve been a SS owner. Knowing now what the fees ARE, and what the margins are NOT. Watching people in forums say, āI NEVER even start my car for less than $250!!ā, while they accept $85 refis All. Damned. Day. Seeing some people bust their BUTTS to make BANK in this business while others sit on the couch and whine that, āmy area is oversaturatedā and āthereās no moneyā, and ānobody pays what Iām worrrrthā. You are worth what you earn. You want top dollar orders? Donāt be the one who needs to be asking where to sign your name. Or if you need to stamp this? Take a Notary class. Take two, theyāre small. Learn your state Notary law. Know what your state verbiage looks like. For the love of all that is Holy, STOP answering EVERY question on the internet with, āWe canāt DO THAT IN CALIFORNIAā. Yes, we know, thanks. You need TheBOX. We get it. And we arenāt all IN California, thanks.
Excuse me, I think I need more coffee. Please do not take personally anything I say while there is too much blood in my caffeine stream. Thank you.
I seem to be one of the very few, if any, notaries in my area, which is a bit isolated. They sometime start out with $95, and end up paying $150. I just wait for the price to go up. If it doesnāt, too bad. Iām not going to do everything for $95. Especially since I have to drive another 20 miles one way or more, to get to a FedEx location, which is why I donāt do scan backs as the Additional mileage to FedEx and UPS is so great.
I think our problem is NNA is located in California, which has restrictions that almost no other state has. Iām in Florida, so weāre close to the same restrictions, but sooo many other states are not. I want to commend you for being part of this site as most posts are ANTI SSās. I have not ever done a signing for an SS, but I must say youāre ABOVE board way of addressing this problem would encourage me to do one for you. But, of course my charge would be $125. Wishing you every success in your SS.
I too thank you for your candor and I totally understand your frustrations. I kept wondering about the same thing regarding people who say they donāt walk out their door for less than $150. I recognize them as being the ācream of the cropā, and understand that I canāt do that if I want to have some income and gain experience at the same time.
I want to be the ācream of the cropā also so Iāve taken 3 NSA certification courses (NNA, Blue Print, and Loan Signing System). Iām invested in my profession and will continue to seek education each day with each signing (as each seem to be as different as the signers for each are). To that end, Iām okay with taking $85 orders for now, and sometimes some $75 orders. Iām okay with this because Iāve completed a little over 100 orders. However, once I reach 150 orders completed, I think $90 per order is reasonable, and when I get to 200 orders completed, Iām okay with a top line amount from an SS at $110.
All that said, Iām available to you right now at $85 per order and shortly, between $90-$110 per order. After that, then Iāll look to go direct with a couple hundred signings under my belt, but for you my price will stay between $90-$110 so feel free to use me for any singings in my area.
BTW, I love that joke about the āblood in my caffeine streamā. Hilarious!!
The issue with rejecting all offers below $100 or more, is that there is always someone willing to take the low offers. Theyāre making āsomeā money, while the rest of us make none. And when youāre in a competitive market, you could be on the outside lookin in when it comes to getting signings. Iām a newer LSA, I have over 100 signings under my belt, and I try to never take anything lower than $100, but when the signings dry up, you gotta take the $85 ones to keep things moving along.
Today received two offers for signings with faxbacks. One from Precise Signing Solutions and the other from Title Processing Center. One was for $60 and the second for $65. I turned both down. The location was over 35 miles from my home. Amazing. I also try to at least get $115 or $125 for signings.
My question is (newcomer here) is can the jobs we choose NOT involve scan-backs? Where we put the signed package into the FEDEX and move on? Can we know before we accept a job that scan-backs are required?
Do you find that scanbacks of large documents slow you down too much? Maybe since I am just starting to learn, I should accept those without? I like the idea of ending the job with the FEDEX papers back to them, and not returning back to my office for MORE work on that ā Iād rather go to another job. Thank you so much for helping with suggestions!
I scan a 200 page document in about 5 minutes so it doesnāt bother me personally. When I started out I was feeding it one page at a time into my scanner! LOL. If it is a lot of trouble for you I would just start by accepting ones that specify no scans.
